Aetherdyne Ae-15 Ayame (Pacifica)

Ae-15 Ayame
Role	Strike fighter
National origin	Pelinai
Manufacturer	Aetherdyne IDB
First flight	February 7, 2005
Introduction	October 19, 2008
Status	In service
Primary user	Royal Pelinese Air Force
Produced	2005–present
Number built	Ae-15A/B/V/S/U: approx. 1600+ (as of 2023)

The Aetherdyne Ae-15 Ayame (Pelinese: イシ-15 あやめ, Ishi-15 Ayame) is a Pelinese twin-engine, all-weather, low-observable strike fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by Aetherdyne. Variants of the Ae-15 are the current principal air superiority and strike fighter aircraft of the Royal Pelinese Air Force, with over 1,600 serial production versions built since 2008.

The Ae-15 made its maiden flight on February 7, 2005, and was accepted into RPAF service on November 2, 2008; its intended combat roles include air superiority, interdiction, and close air support.

Design

Overview

The Ae-15 was designed as a large multirole air superiority and strike fighter using a conventional wing-tailplane layout, hybrid semi-monocoque construction using metal and composite materials, a one-seat or two-seat cockpit supporting either a pilot or a pilot and a WSO, two afterburning turbofan engines, an AESA radar array, and low-observable construction techniques.
Features such as the engines, airframe, and avionics are greatly improved over previous Pelinese aircraft designs due to better access to tooling, expertise, and technology; subsequent upgrades in the form of the Ae-15B and Ae-15V variants have brought further increases in the sophistication of avionics systems in particular.

Airframe

The Ae-15 has an angular semi-monocoque fuselage with forward-swept, side-mounted air intakes, a conventional wing-tailplane layout of shoulder-mounted delta wings incorporating leading-edge root extensions and chines, and twin outwards-canted vertical stabilizers. elevons are used for the tailplane in order to reduce mass. The aerodynamic characteristics of the Ae-15 are intentionally unstable in order to improve maneuverability for within-visual-range engagements against contemporary fighter aircraft.
The structure of the Ae-15 incorporates features such as radar-absorbent paint, S-ducts in front of the engine compressors, and sawtoothed panel joints to reduce radar cross section. Modern aerospace manufacturing materials such as fiber-reinforced polymers and aluminium-scandium alloy are also used extensively and to a much greater degree than preceding Pelinese fighter aircraft such as the Ae-13, allowing for a higher payload capacity and greater combat range. The canopy of the Ae-15 is frameless and is coated in a layer of indium tin oxide in order to prevent radar returns from internal features of the aircraft’s cockpit.

Operators

Kingdom of Pelinai

• Royal Pelinese Air Force: 1,500+ of all variants as of 2023

Specifications (Ae-15V)

General characteristics

• Crew: one (pilot)
• Length: 22.4 m (73 ft 6 in)
• Wingspan: 13.0 m (42 ft 8 in)
• Height: 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in)
• Wing area: 71.3 m² (767 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 16,000 kg (35,274 lb)
• Gross weight: 29,000 kg (63,934 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 38,000 kg (83,776 lb)
• Fuel capacity: roughly 13,000kg internally
• Powerplant: 2 × Yunimashi AF-11D afterburning low-bypass turbofan engines, 130 kN (29,000 lbf) thrust each dry, 180 kN (40,000 lbf) with afterburner

Performance

• Maximum speed: 2,600 km/h (1,600 mph, 1,400 kn)
• Maximum speed: Mach 2.1
• Cruise speed: 2,200 km/h (1,400 mph, 1,200 kn)
• Range: 6,000 km (3,700 mi, 3,200 nmi)
• Combat range: 2,000 km (1,200 mi, 1,100 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 20,000 m (66,000 ft)
• Rate of climb: 300 m/s (59,000 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 406.7 kg/m² (83.3 lb/sq ft)
• Thrust/weight: 1.27

Armament

• Guns: 1 x 30mm autocannon with up to 200 rounds
• Hardpoints: 4 external hardpoints with a capacity of 8,000kg,with provisions to carry combinations of:
  • Rockets:
    • S-80 80mm unguided rockets
    • S-120 120mm unguided rockets
    • S-240 240mm unguided rockets
  • Missiles:
    • N06A Ruby short-range AAM
    • R-23 Corundum SRAAM (limited use)
    • N11A Spinel BVR AAM
    • N7S/L Crystal ALCM
    • N41S3 Chalcedony ASCM
    • N09S/L Topaz ASM
  • Bombs:
    • BVN-100, BVN-250, BVN-500, BVN-750, BVN-1000 gravity bombs
    • Laser, satellite guided bombs
    • Cluster bombs
    • N91B Prasiolite anti-runway bombs
    • N12B Rose Quartz guided anti-fortification bombs
  • Other: external fuel tanks
• Bombs: 3 internal weapons bays with a maximum capacity of 3,000 kilograms of ordnance.

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• ASA VOT 14 Hotvemm
• DynamoRyland DR-018
• Pantheon Pa-992